Ottawa Business Journal Ottawa Business Journal

With valuations down and a tight venture capital market, tech venture founders are looking for ways to stretch their working capital.

In some cases, that means cutting expenses and laying off employees. In other instances, it means going back to early-stage investors for more money.

The Capital Angel Network is answering this call in this challenging economic climate.

With approximately 60 members, CAN says it’s staying committed to its portfolio companies with a significant increase in follow-on investments.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with Suzanne Grant, executive director of CAN. Grant provides an update on the local angel scene, plus previews the upcoming National Angel Capital Organization Summit, which happens in Ottawa on May 7-8.

There is a misperception in the technology industry that startups can emerge from nowhere and achieve overnight success. While that can happen, it’s definitely the exception. It’s more common for success to emerge after a long period that is defined by setbacks and challenges.

Alfred Jay’s entrepreneurial journey began back in 1998, the early days of the dot-com craze. Although early products such as CommunityZero attracted millions of users, Jay and his co-founder Philippe Dame came to the conclusion that a pivot was necessary. It was 2008, the financial crisis was taking hold and the co-founders believed their business model was flawed.

That was the start of today’s Recollective, a qualitative online research platform that is used by some of the world’s most recognizable companies, including Mattel, Nikon, RBC and Michaels.

The reset has paid off. Recollective revenues are up 400% in the past five years, headcount has increased from 24 employees in 2019 to 110 employees and the company boasts more than 2,000 customers.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran talks with Jay about this quarter century working in local tech. Also, Jay talks about why Recollective is finding such traction with its customers these days and what artificial intelligence might mean to market research in years to come.

Techopia Live is heading out to the Ottawa Valley. Based in Arnprior, Convergence Design Services dates back to the 1990s, but more recently the company has quietly doubled its revenues, ranking sixth on the Fastest Growing Companies in Eastern Ontario.

Convergence is keeping pace in the ever-changing world of technology with projects in electric vehicles, robotics, AI, Smart IoT and space.

Its president Ben Seaman joined Convergence in 2019 to succeed a retiring owner-operator, but his electronic design experience dates back to the telecom heyday with JDS Uniphase, followed by positions at Honeywell Aerospace and Curtiss-Wright Defence Solutions.

Seaman says the promise of working with senior engineering talent at Convergence lured him back for a second stint with the company.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher speaks with Seaman about major projects underway at Convergence, the benefits of being based in Arnprior and the challenges of doubling revenues.

The road to entrepreneurship was a winding one for Adam Miron.
While he was a biology student at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Adam got involved in politics with the Liberal Party.
It was the early 2000s and Stephane Dion was the Liberal leader. He asked Miron to come to Ottawa to work for the party.
For the better part of a decade, Miron immersed himself in politics, then media with iPolitics and then some political consulting. He developed a keen interest in the intersection of public policy and market opportunities.
That expertise served him well in 2013, when his brother-in-law Sebastien St. Louis presented Miron with a big idea: seize the opportunity presented by the legalization of medical marijuana.
That was the beginning of Hexo Corp., a Gatineau-based producer of marijuana that, at its height, had a billion-dollar valuation and more than 1,000 employees.
Miron’s involvement with Hexo ended in February 2022, when he resigned from the board to let new executives operate the company.
With Hexo in his rearview mirror and other entrepreneurial pursuits concluding, Miron says he is feeling unencumbered these days.
That’s good news for Invest Ottawa, which secured Miron as its co-chair in June 2023. He is now helping the city’s lead economic development agency as it transitions to a new CEO.
In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks to Miron about his passion for advising young entrepreneurs and what he is excited about at Invest Ottawa.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, many local technology companies have struggled with how to deal with hybrid and remote work, often referred to as the “new normal” in today’s workplace. There are so many conflicting opinions on how to maintain productivity and engagement in this shifting work environment.

In this episode of Techopia Live, correspondent Riaz Sidi visits TechTuesday, a monthly event organized by the Wesley Clover Foundation.

The February event was devoted to “The New Normal: Navigating Culture, Preferences and the Office.” Featured speakers in this episode include panelists Mary Clement of Ross Video, Amber Pate of Kinaxis, Heather Tyrie of Fullscript, plus Kanata MP Jenna Sudds and City of Ottawa councillor Cathy Curry.

Check out future TechTuesday events here: https://www.wesleyclover.com/events/techtuesday/

When you think of internet service provider options for Ottawa, you’ll inevitably think of the big national companies that dominate this space, notably Bell and Rogers. What many people fail to realize is that local providers still exist.

Way back in the 1990s, in the early days of the Internet, these local providers were essential. Most early adopters turned to these local ISPs to access the web and email.

All these years later, one local ISP is still thriving. Storm Internet Services was launched in 1996 to serve Ottawa and Eastern Ontario. Today, Storm has approximately 9,000 residential and 1,000 commercial customers, offering DSL, fibre, wireless, cable connectivity, and IPTV.

Storm has offices in Ottawa, Perth, and Chesterville, with local support and call centre staff.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with Storm chairman and CEO Birket Foster about how this longstanding local ISP continues to thrive and how upcoming CRTC decisions could open up new opportunities.